Michael lee taylor

11/10/2020

Film criticism

Godzilla and history.

To see a bomb go off can have many effects on someone depending on the context. A

child watching a series of explosions in an array of colors behind the powers may induce a sense

of awe. To watch a building meticulously fall after the crackle of demolition ammunition may

induce a sense of satisfaction.

‘When I was coming back from the war, as the army was returning after our final defeat,

we passed through Hiroshima,back then, it was said that, for the next 72 years, not a single blade

of grass would grow there—and that really stayed with me. So I have a kind of hatred of nuclear

weapons. It's horrifying to make such terrible weapons and use them on one city and then

another. It was that feeling, for me as a director, that meant I didn't hesitate one bit to make

Godzilla come alive in the film.’ ishiro honda 1990 directors guild of Japan interview

The above quote shows another reaction. A sense of confusion and anger. Even under the

imperial flag, driving by a city once brimming with life, reduced to rubble under the force of

sciences most up to date horrors.

This moment is the inspiration of a classic movie. Not as dramatic as a soldier in a

bomber airplane having to look down as the worst creation of the time descends upon an

unsuspecting populace. Though it's still enough.

 Lets bring it back a little bit. For this paper, we are looking at the history of two directors

with similar experiences. Both drawing from vastly different muses to create the same product in

two eras of film.

Godzilla 1954 is a movie about the horrors of nuclear testing. The scene is set in Tokyo,

fishing vessels are going missing, a sea storm hits a fishing village as well as the briefest visage

of a monster, towering above illuminated by strikes of lightning destroying homes.

Tokyo sends a paleontologist to investigate one Kyohei Yamane. He discovers massive

footprints and trilobites. Later that day as he's drawing conclusions from his findings, the

warning bell for the village rings out. Godzilla has appeared fully to attack the village once

again, once spotted, the village is quickly evacuated. They go to Tokyo to demand relief funds

while Yamane presents his reports and suggests a plan for life capture.

The sdf denies this, stating that their sending frigates to the nuclear signature to drop

charges.

When Ishiro spoke of his monster in later interviews, he discussed how a monster is

killed. He noted that if it were just a dinosaur, then you could kill it with a cannon ball. He's right

of course. As much as a movie like Jurassic Park is a legendary movie, it disregards modern

technology. Most of the movie can be solved with a decent rifle.

He goes on to clarify that he didn't make godzilla a simple animal, he was made to

represent the horrors of an event. He is the ghost of nuclear annihilation. Created from it.

Embodying it. Godzilla and a mushroom cloud are one and the same.

A gun can't kill that. A gun can't shoot down a fear like that. That's the point. It's a

monster that can only be destroyed by going a step too far. To beat the overwhelming fear of

nuclear destruction, one would have to create something a step above that. Speaking of which…
 The hydrogen bombs dropped on Godzilla are ineffective. The monster is now heading

towards Tokyo bay. In response, the Self Defense Force erects stone and electric fencing in a last

ditch effort to stop it. It doesn't. Godzilla destroys it with a nuclear breath and enters Tokyo.

Causing untold amounts of damage and killing and maiming enough to overflow the hospitals of

the city.

Yamanes colleagues Ogata and Emiko find research notes for a bomb. One that destroys

oxygen molecules in a set distance along with the researcher who can make it. The researcher is

adamant that it's not worth it, that if his secret gets out, he will be forced by the world

governments to make more of this bomb.

But he's moved by the images of destruction and deaths in the streets of Tokyo. He tells

the two to burn his notes as he's sailed out to deploy the bomb out at sea, then cuts off his own

air supply to ensure that secret never escapes to the world.

As I said. The only thing that can stop people's fear of nuclear weaponry is the fear of

something far worse. That, in truth, is what the director and writer is scared of. The continued

testing of nuclear energy is akin to practicing. If the little boy bomb was mankind's first venture,

what happens when we continue down that path? How strong can a nuclear bomb become? It's

an answer with no good results.

This all connects with the life of the author, who in his time with the Japanese military

would have seen the desperate innovations of the losing imperial army. The arms race to create

something worse. To create a war ender. It just so happens that America was the winner of that

race. Ishiro, through this movie, is begging America to end its nuclear testing. Even ending off

the movie with a warning, that the continued usage of nuclear weapons would create another

godzilla in due time. Not a monster, or a big radioactive sea lizard, but a worse weapon.
 This interpretation of Godzilla has evolved weirdly with time. Age turns horror to camp.

Camp turns to action. One day you see characters contemplating their nuclear annihilation then

the next, you see Godzilla shoving a tree down a large monkey's gullet.

I think it's a bit of a welcome change. As the years dragged on, we entered the cold war.

With the ever constant threat of nuclear annihilation, there are those that just have to poke fun at

the idea. The self seriousness of a man stomping about in a large costume is inherently funny. So

it gets turned into a semi comedic action series, in which it's the forces of nature versus the

horrors from beyond the stars, mutated freaks of nature and supernatural menaces.

This was my first introduction into godzilla. Specifically “Godzilla vs Gigan” a low

budget entry, poorly translated and an almost blatant cash grab. I loved every second of it. I

loved the epic scores, the insane plot. The creatures' designs, gigans biomechanical features and

the editing that brought cockroach-esque aliens to life and made them a proper threat. I just kept

watching every single one I could find, until finally we hit 2016.

Prior to that year, Japan had seen its fair share of disasters, from nuclear plants destroyed

by nature. Tsunamis that battered the heavily populated towns and the realization of just how

dependent Japan is on America's military to defend themselves.

The two directors of this film went on to state that the movie itself is based on the

fukushima disaster. In which the perfect blend of man made and natural disasters came together

to create a path of destruction in an area. Leaving the town still today spiked with radioactive

material and energy.

Shin Godzilla is supposed to be a reboot of the series, with new characters but some of

the familiar story beats. The three appearances of godzilla on land, the plan needed to defeat it.

But missing the crucial one.

 The idea that the only thing that can kill godzilla is a weapon worse than it has melted

from the public mind. Which i think can be attributed to advancements in war. Bombs with non

nuclear loads being dropped by the dozens of civilian populations in wars such as vietnam and

afghanistan served a grim reminder that even a small bomb leaves devastation.

Along with this, research in nuclear energy has served to help millions and even serves

today as one of the most accessible sources of green energy. It has become both humanities spear

and humanities cloth.

How does a country ravaged so many times by nuclear disaster come to grips with the

future of nuclear energy? That is the question posed by this movie, by fulfilling the wish of the

original character yamane with a live capture.

But that's too far ahead, this creature is a hyper mutated creature that consumes massive

amounts of nuclear waste and is quickly evolving. This follows some of the more popular writing

tropes in Japan such as “form change.

Both directors are famous for their anime titles so it's not all too surprising. First form

godzilla is a tadpole, merely lurking at the cities bay leaving massive wakes of radioactive muck

behind, and destroying an underwater driveway.

It evolves to then go on land, though only making it a short distance before going back to

the ocean.

Then we were introduced to the second criticism of this movie. Japan's culture of

bureaucracy, showing it as astoundingly slow and meant to insure that blame can be easily

redirected towards someone else. The movie makes it clear that if concise, clear actions were

taken, the problem would not be a problem.

 But then we wouldn't have a movie now would we? Officials take a look at the damage,

showing streets wet and wrecked beyond repair, with families displaced and picking across the

planks and rubble for any remnant of their former life. This movie excellently captures these

scenes made to capture the wake of such natural disasters.

Our main character is rando yaguchi, who was the one to suggest a response team be put

together immediately. Around this time, a new form of godzilla emerges from the wake. The

special defense force is deployed under his recommendation as well but the response is cut short

by the prime minister, as he's the one ultimately in charge of whether or not they actually open

fire. The operation is cut when civilians are seen on the scene.

It's not shown to be a correct or incorrect decision, just a hard one to make and follow

through with. Rando is then set in charge of a research team tasked with finding a way to deal

with godzilla. As well as figure out what created it.

During this time, another military response is set up, this time making sure the town is

properly evacuated. Rando is made aware by a American emissary that their military will be

aiding, a somewhat unwelcome addition given it means military bombing on Japan by America.

Godzilla once again emerges, though it's clearly changed far too much to be a seafaring

creature. Now it sports the familiar black carapace and beady eyes of the original. It makes a

march to the city where it is met by the river by the military.

A bombardment commences, thousands of rounds of ammunition and explosives are

unloaded but it does nothing. The creature merely marches through them and into Tokyo, which

is now being evacuated.

This leads to the most impactful scene of the movie, one that I could never describe in

such a way to show the horror, the power, the impact that is the godzilla breath scene. So I can
only recommend you watch it online if you have the chance. But with this, Tokyo is in flames,

and the prime minister, who attempts to flee the town via helicopter, is blasted away along with

many other cabinet members.

The American military drop bombs which do some damage but they too are destroyed.

With both militaries campaign a resounding failure, and a researcher finding that when it

reawakens, it will evolve to be able to fly and escape the island, American threatens to drop a

nuke on Japan.

This threat is the motivation Rando needs. He reassembles an impromptu government

and sets out a plan using both public and private sectors. America gives them a hard time limit of

a few weeks, if the creature is not neutralized, then their mission goes on as planned.

Randos plan is to use a blood coagulant to stop Godzilla's heart. It requires extensive set

ups, controlled demolitions to trap the head under rubble, drones to force godzilla to over exert

itself with its own lasers. A one in a million chance operation that with even the slightest

hesitation, would result in the cities and miles worth of land's nuclear annihilation.

It works. Though with some casualties, it somehow works. But they can't kill it. They

only have the means to contain it. Which walks back to the idea of the movie. This godzilla is

meant to embody the idea of nuclear energy and what it means. It won't go away because the

world has grown reliant, but it's not a benevolent source. It will strike back if we do not take the

utmost caution with it.

These two movies excellently take their countries history and create a monster to embody

it. Yes, more godzilla movies will come out with somewhat goofy tones. Movies where it's

godzilla, the hero of earth defending his home from the threats beyond the stars. That's all fine.

It's great actually. It maintains interest with this series.

 It keeps it alive that much longer so that another ambitious director and writers can create

something fantastic with it. Not to say that the American titles aren't great in their own sense, but

they are stuck in a bit of a Hollywood formula.

I want this series to go on as long as possible. Because unfortunately, there will be more

disasters. Whether those disasters are man made or natural, they will happen. This creates fuel

for some of the best movies I have ever seen in my life.

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